Skype for iOS gets native Office support to let you open documents during chats

Skype for iOS now sports native support for Microsoft Office documents, meaning you can open, view, and respond to files in the middle of online conversations.

Available in both the iPhone and iPad apps, the Office integration is a natural extension to the existing tie-up between Skype and Office that gives you free video- and voice-calls in Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint. So while you could already see and chat to your Skype contacts in Office Online, now you can receive and view documents within Skype too.

Today’s news follows a similar rollout last month on Skype for Android, which was given a handful of new features — including native Office support. Now on Skype for iOS, if someone sends you an Office document, you can just tap to download it. If you don’t have the relevant Office app installed, you’ll be prompted to install it from the App Store.

While this isn’t an earth-shattering development, it further signals Microsoft’s efforts to unify its products, perhaps evidenced most notably with its latest universal Windows 10 operating system.